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Following the ACC
Top 25 Players earlier in the week, I move to the Midwest to take on the Big
Ten. Outside the top handful of players, the talent is not comparable to the
other BCS leagues. Still, there's new talent at Purdue, Ohio State, and
elsewhere that could push some of these mediocre veterans off the list by
season's end.

This is the second of six mini statistical previews of the major conferences. Each one includes projected starting lineups, projected stats for each player, and a short comment. (Stats are listed in order of points, rebounds, then assists).

With a loaded incoming freshmen class,
and with the success of one-and-done stars in the 2006 class like Kevin Durant,
Greg Oden and Brandan Wright, the pressure is on for some of the biggest names
in recent high school basketball history. This is the Second part of
our series breaking down the situations that some of the country's top freshmen
will be entering, and whether that could hurt or help their success.

Nothing like a 54-51 snooze fest to highlight Tuesday's ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Duke eeked out an ugly victory over an Indiana team that deserves credit for hanging in there despite a very poor first half. This game featured a complete lack of frontcourt offense: Duke's three starting forwards combined for 3-12 shooting (Remind me again why McRoberts is a lottery pick?) while Indiana's two bigs were 4-17.

Glad to see Kelvin Sampson's decision to start playing the freshmen Shaw and Bassett more and more. In the long run, this should be a major help for the Hoosiers. Bassett had a career high 16 points, though he showed his inexperience in the closing minutes with one poor shot and then one poorer lack of shot. The lanky Shaw has played 24 minutes the last two games after being a non-factor in the first few.

UNC got their season started with a win over Sacred Heart.. This game was interesting to see how Roy would utilize his deep roster. Hansbrough was the man as usual with 29, but the three big freshmen scored 10 points apiece.. It looks like Quentin Thomas and Deon Thompson will be relegated to the bench for now though. Nice win for Western Kentucky over Georgia last night.. Projected Sun Belt Player of the Year Courtney Lee had 24 points in the win after putting up 20 in an easy win over Kennesay State.. Expect Lee to make a run at 20 ppg this season. Looks like its going to be another long season for Saint Bonaventure.. The Bonnies lost to independent Chicago St at home to start the season and barely beat 1st time D1 squad Central Arkansas in overtime.. If you cant beat these guys at home, who can you beat?